Lock and spacer ring

ABSTRACT

A ring for locking and spacing two components situated in a cylindrical bore, characterized in that said ring has a closed uninterrupted angular shape and comprises a weakened part which allows the adjacent end parts to be pressed to each other without disengaging said end parts from said weakened part.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 647,717 filed Jan. 16,1976, and now abandoned.

The invention refers to a ring of locking and axial spacing twocomponents that are located in a cylindrical bore. The inventionparticularly refers to spacing of two bearings in the hub of a wheel ata distance from each other and locking the bearing in an axialdirection.

In general, automation of a mounting operation is difficult, because theknown applied elements, called circlips, used for locking and spacingmachine components such as bearings, become easily entangled in eachother and obstruct this operation. Circlips are open ring-like elementswhich can be mounted automatically with special tools. They aredisadvantageous, mainly due to their separated endparts, in that therings become entangled, Disentangling of these rings, which must becarried out by hand, will have a most detrimental effect on theefficiency of the mounting operation. In addition, when two rings are tobe mounted at some distance from each other, in a bore one ring mustpass the groove of the other, an operation difficult to carry outautomatically unless the rings are placed in the bore from either side.

It is therefore the principal object of the invention to introduce aring as described above which can be mounted automatically in a borewhere in two adjacent machine components such as bearings are applied.According to the invention this object is achieved by providing a ringwith a closed uninterrupted angular shape and including a weakened partwhich allows the adjacent endparts to be pressed to each other withoutdisengaging the endparts from the weakened part.

A ring-like locking element is known from the German Patent No.1.074.921 which describes an element comprising two parts, which at oneend are hingeably connected and at the other end are disengageablycoupled. This means that the end, parts can easily be detached from eachother and the same disadvantages exist as herein described before.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the weakened partduring pressing of the adjacent end part is mainly moved in radialdirection. This measure enables the mounting and locking of the ring inthe groove of a bore. This weakened part preferably comprises two ormore relatively thin sections being situated at certain distances fromeach other and functioning as hinges for their connecting part astrip-like element. When the ring is made from a suitable plastic forexample a polymer such as polyamide, a relatively cheap, reliablelocking and spacer ring can be obtained.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the stripsare dimensioned and have a degree of resilience such that after the ringhas been placed in a groove of a bore the strips can flick or springoutwardly to lock the ring efficiently. Owing to this, the locking ringcannot simply be dislodged from the groove. When a wheel shaft has to bemounted which has a smaller diameter than the inner bore of the ring, itis possible to select dimensioned strip-like elements such that in theassembly the strips cannot flick or spring back from their position.

A ring, according to the invention, in its axial direction can havedifferent sectional views such that it can be located in a correctposition in the bore and space the bearings correctly. When applying thering such as in a wheel hub it is now possible to mount said ring bymeans of a tapered tool, having its smallest diameter equal to the boreof the wheel hub, automatically.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a ring in a position before mounting;

FIG. 2 shows a ring under tension during mounting;

FIG. 3 shows a ring in its lock-position in a groove of a bore;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of said ring.

The ring generally designated as 1 and depicted in the drawing, consistsof an annular part 2 of a mainly rectangular cross-section and is madeof plastic or other appropriate resilient material. A part of this ringcan be replaced by a weakened section consisting of three hinges 3,4,5and two strip-like elements or strips 6 and 7. These strips have atriangular cross-section when viewed from the front side. The hingesconsist in this preferable embodiment of thin parts made of the ringmaterial itself. This embodiment enables the ring to be pressed to theposition as shown in FIG. 2, according to which the ring is set undertension and transferred to its correct location in a bore (not shown).This location will be maintained after mounting due to projection 8(FIG. 4) which is present at the circumference of ring 1. Projection 8corresponds with the width of a groove in a bore. It is also possiblethat the ring has a rectangular cross-section only. If for some reasonit is undesirable that the strip-like elements 6 and 7 project towardsthe centre point (M) as for example, due to the subsequent mounting of ashaft, it is possible to construct a ring according to the invention inwhich strip-like elements 6 and 7, due to the ring material propertiesand strip dimensions, have sufficient resilience to flick or springoutwardly to the ring circumference (FIG. 3) after the ring has beenplaced in the groove of a bore. According to this measure, the ring islocked and cannot simply be dislodged from the groove because after theshaft has been mounted. The specifically executed or dimensioned stripsthus now have no possibility of flicking or springing back to theiroriginal position as shown in FIG. 1. The strips 6 and 7 preferably havea triangular cross-section when viewed from the front side. Thereforethe flat sides 6A, 7A resp. will define a sharp angle in the position inwhich the ring is set under tension. For applying the ring in spacingtwo bearings, as for example in a wheel hub, it is an advantage when theprojection 8 is present at the circumference of the ring, correspondingwith a groove in a bore of the hub.

When the ring is mounted automatically into the bore of a device bymeans of a tapered tool, the smallest diameter of which is equal to thebore of the wheel hub, the ring 1 is set under tension and thus willsnap into the groove of said bore, after which the strips 6 and 7 maysubsequently be flicked or spring outward in a mainly radial direction.

It will be apparent that the structure in accordance with the inventionis particularly adaptable for use as a retaining ring or a spacing ring,for bearings or the like, wherein the bearings extend radially inwardlyof a bore surface of a housing. In such use, the rings in accordancewith the invention may serve only to prevent axial movement of thebearings, and their rings in accordance with the invention do not serveas running surfaces for a shaft extending through the bearings. Thus, inorder to simplify insertion of the rings in a bore, while inhibiting thesnapping of the rings out of position in use, the rings may be designedsuch that the strips extend radially inwardly of the remainder of therings when the central hinge thereof has been flipped outwardly toengage the bore, as shown in FIG. 1. With this configuration, the laterinserted shaft will inhibit the unlatching of the toggle formed by thehinged elements of the invention, by preventing further inward movementof these elements, so that the ring must remain in place in the bore.

An advantage of this type of assembly over the known assembly in whichtwo circlips in a bore are applied is that the number of parts to bemounted is reduced to one element only. Another advantage is that justone groove has to be machined as compared with the known devices showingtwo grooves in a hub and in which more circlip elements must be placed.In addition, mounting can now be carried out automatically since thedefined lock and spacer rings cannot become entangled with other rings.

It is understood however that the claimed principle is not restricted tothe shown and described embodiment since other ring constructions can bemanufactured accordance with the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A locking and spacing structure comprising a ring havingclosed unitary uninterrupted structural shape, one portion of said ringinterrupting the remainder thereof and being weakened between a pair ofend parts so as to be deformable and deformed from said uninterruptedshape so as to project radially from the area defined by said shape inthe unstressed state of the ring, said weakened area including first andsecond circumferentially extending strips, meeting at a common point ofgreater deformability than said elements and forming a middle hinge,said strips being joined at their respective terminations with therespective end parts of said ring at points of greater deformabilitythan said strips and forming hinges at said terminations, said stripsbeing formed to have portions that extend radially inward of theremainder of said ring when said hinges are bent with said middle hingeat the radius equal to the outer radius of said remainder of said ring.2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said weakened part, during pressingof said end parts, moves in a radial direction.
 3. The structure ofclaim 1, wherein said weakened part comprises two or more relativelythin sections situated at a predetermined distance from each other andfunctioning as hinges for their respective connecting strips.
 4. Thestructure of claim 3, wherein said strips are dimensioned such that, andhave a degree of resilience such that, after said ring is adapted to beplaced in a groove of a bore, said strips move outwardly to lock saidring.
 5. The structure of claim 3, wherein said strips have across-section mainly triangular in shape and have flat sides defining asharp angle under tension when locked.
 6. The structure of claim 1,wherein a projection is present at the circumference of said ring whichcorresponds to a groove in the bore of a mechanical part.
 7. Thestructure of claim 1, wherein said ring is adapted to be fitted on atapered tool, whereby said ring can be automatically mounted in a boreof a mechanical part.
 8. The locking and spacing structure of claim 1,wherein said weakened portion is radially displaced with respect to saidremainder of said ring.
 9. The locking and spring structure of claim 8,wherein said weakened portion is displaced radially inwardly withrespect to said remainder of said ring.
 10. The locking and spacingstructure of claim 1, wherein said strips have triangular cross-section,with their apexes joining at said common point location.
 11. The lockingand spacing structure of claim 1, wherein said one portion has lessradial thickness than said remainder throughout its extent, and isradially displaced inwardly of said one portion.
 12. The locking andspacing structure of claim 1, wherein said strips have triangularcross-section with their apexes joining at said middle hinge, said oneportion being displaced radially inwardly with respect to saidremainder.
 13. A retaining ring and spacer element comprising acontinuous ring of a resilient material, the outer circumferentialsurface of said ring being interrupted at a given arcuate section toform a pair of spaced apart end faces, said ring being formed in saidgiven arcuate section by a bridging portion of radial thickness lesserthan the remainder of said element throughout its extent and joining theend faces at the radially innermost edge thereof, said bridging portionhaving minimum radial thickness at longitudinally extending jointsthereof with said end faces and along a central longitudinally extendingline, whereby hinges are formed at said joints and along said line, theregions of said bridging portion immediately adjacent said jointsextending radially inward of the remainder of said element when saidhinges are bent with the hinge at said line at the radius of said outercircumferential surface.
 14. The element of claim 13, wherein said endfaces extend radially in longitudinal planes.
 15. The element of claim13, wherein the portion of said element away from said bridging portionhas a substantially uniform transverse cross section throughout itsextent.
 16. The element of claim 15, wherein said portion of said ringaway from said bridging portion has a projection extending radiallyoutward from said outer circumferential surface and having an axialdimension less than said outer circumferential surface, said bridgingportion extending axially to the same extent as the remainder of saidelement.
 17. A retaining ring and spacing structure comprising aresilient ring having an arcuate portion with radially outwardly andinwardly directed surfaces, said arcuate portion being interruptedcircumferentially by a bridging portion joined at its ends to saidarcuate portion radially inwardly of said outwardly directed surface,said bridging portion having axially extending portions of reducedradial dimension at each said end forming a pair of hinges with saidarcuate portion, and an axially extending portion of reduced radialdimension intermediate said hinges and forming a third hinge, whereby apair of strips are formed between said hinges, said strips being formedto have portions extending radially inwardly of said inwardly directedsurface of said ring when said bridging portion is hinged outwardly withsaid third hinge at the radius of said outwardly directed surface.